The 50 Best Kanye West Songs Ever

36. Clique

Release Date: September 6, 2012

Album: Cruel Summer

Writer(s): Kanye West, Sean Anderson, Shawn Carter, Chauncey Hollis, James Fauntleroy, Alexander Izquierdo

Producer(s): Hit-Boy, West, Anthony Kilhoffer, Noah Goldstein

Notable Lyric:

“Yeah I’m talking business, we talking CIA

I’m talking George Tenet, I seen him the other day

He asked me about my Maybach, think he had the same

Except mine tinted and his might have been rented”

Full disclosure: I has never entirely warmed to Big Sean. His rhymes all seem like he’s in the middle of an unfunny joke that won’t end. As such, the Detroit native’s name rarely appears in the byline of my Spotify.

That being said, I understand that Big Sean has improved greatly in recent years. His association with Kanye and other artists like Chance the Rapper seems to indicate that he’s willing to at least surround himself with talented people. Somewhat inexplicably, he even makes two appearances on this very list.

This first Big Sean appearance is on Cruel Summer’s “Clique,” and while it owes a lot to the presence of both Jay-Z and Kanye, it is one of the funniest he’s ever made. Just look at the above quote detailing Kanye’s inexplicable (fictional?) encounter with former CIA director George Tenet.

Next: 35. No Church in the Wild